Uwarranted First Negative

[chief-50]

Hi all,

I buy & sell a bit on E/Bay.....received my first negative to-day & do not believe it was warranted or justified,

but will defer to any opinions to the contrary from board members much more enlightened than myself...

Sold a small '70's , German brand (Dolmar)  Chainsaw recently ... 1 bid got it at the $79 start price

It was (" strictly pick up only") in bold,  bright red letters.... I duly sent off the Invoice with a polite "note"

to advise suitable p/u arrangements.... I then receive a response say "I live in sydney....only just seen 

it's pick up only...."    Then goes on to say I should dissassemble machine , drain fuel & oil , pack " securely"

in a small  box etc & he would get a courier ....

 I politely informed him ,  besides above ,  courier would require from me, dimensions ,weight etc

& be available in a 4 hr window for p/u !....and that was not going to happen , for a cheap item

like this that we sell for "beer money "

I said I was prepared to cancel the order & proceeded to do so ...e/b did the usual.... will advise 

bidder etc  ...I should refund any monies ( Seller did not pay any money ) so figured all would end amicably...

I now see a red dot saying " refused to post..." ' would not post to PO box or accept Paypal...

 (Box no. /Paypal never mentioned in the one E/M I got from him ! )

Sooo.... his mistake all round & I get the Neg....not to worried if was legit as our F/B from selling

these things is embarrssingly good...but not keen to cop this .... 

Let me know if I have stuffed up somwhere... & deserve this " uppercut.'..& if not , do I just prevail onE/B

to remove it...

Any commentd appreciated....thanks in advance...

Chief

[phorum_junkie*]

Contact ebay, use the call me back option, they are usually more helpful, and explain the circumstances and they may remove the neg.

To avoid any chance of a neg once the buyer asked you to do what was needed to send it I would have added the cost of an expensive, fully insured and tracked, courier deliveries plus a goodly charge for my time preparing it for sending plus an extra charge just beause you could and have added that to the invoice.  Chances are the buyer would then not have paid and you could have gone through the unpaid item process after 4 days, the numpty buyer would get  strike, you would get a fee refund and they would have been unable to leave any feedback.

[daffodilau]

Hello.

I am sorry you have had this bad experience. I know more experienced sellers will be able to advise you more than me.but as it was clearly staed as a pick up only you should be able to phone ebay and have the negative removed.

I would also put this buyer on a special list so they cannot buy from you in the future. good luck with your other listings.

[chief-50]

....thanks "pj "... &  just to be clear....  he never paid!  I was trying to save him from a stupidity " strike "...

[jellybirddesigns]

Chief - that's awful. 

The worst buyers are those who never pay/make unreasonable demands and then leave a red dot if they don't get their way.

Buyers should NOT be allowed to leave feedback if they have not paid for an item. It's a real flaw in the system.

[davewil1964]

The key, as they did not pay, would be to open a non-paying bidder dispute. After sending an invoice you know they will not pay. That way they pay and you send, or they don't. if they don't you open a NPB, they get a strike, and, most importantly, they can't leave feedback.

Offering a cancellation not only allows them to reject it (and you lose your eBay fees) but also allows them to leave feedback.

So, in future, if they don't pay, don't give them wriggle room.

[clarry100]

We always default to an unpaid item case unless we have compelling evidence it will be OK to send thru a cancellation request.

This way we (the seller) retain control and keep our fees.

At 3-days we send out a gentle reminder message.

At 4-days we open the UPI case if we hear nothing back.

  If we do get a response and it seems plausible we may issue a cancellation request at this point.

At 8-days we close the case if they still dont pay.

If they pay in there somewhere we send out as usual.

We have never had a buyer leave retaliatory bad feedback.

[chief-50]

Thanks Daff .., CC, Dave & Clarrry ...live & learn !...a procedural blunder by me

left an  opening for this loser....he will be in my next "Dear Karma " letter re  "people he missed...."

Will still try for a removal just on priinciple...if that fails a factua,  ( " can't read ( didn't pick up ),  didn't  pay 

& negs me....please !!  " )  reply should suffice...

You forum gurus are the best...

[springyzone]

I feel your pain. Years back we had a similar thing happen with a pick up item (a desk) and the woman was interstate. The hassle we had from that you would not believe. We swore never again. I can promise you this man would not have been happy once he found out the courier costs either.

Obviously, you should have stuck to your guns and said sorry, pick up only, then issued a non payment strike.

Well, you know for next time.

This time, ring ebay. Get them to look at the ad.

My feeling is, given the pick up only part was clearly mentioned and the bidder has given a neg because you would not post, that the feedback will be removed.

If the first person you ring won't do it, I'd ring again later and see if a different supervisor will see reason.

If you get nowhere, then reply to the neg. I would be inclined to put something like

Clearly listed as PICK UP only. Buyer didn't pay or pick up & negs me?

[springyzone]

PS A few months back, we had another bidder who bought an item that was pick up only. We didn't offer him a cancellation & he said he could not pick up, was too busy, so he paid via paypal and insisted that meant we had to post (for no extra money mind you)

We said no.

My sister rang ebay and they said if he gave us a neg specifically for not posting, then it would be removed as it was clear in our ad the item was pick up only.

So if that is the case, you should be able to get your neg removed.